Respect, love and tolerance will prevail

The most charitable reading of an attack on Dunfermline Mosque is that it was carried out by a fool with little understanding of the deep upset it would cause.

Unfortunately, it is likely to be more insidious than that. Whatever the case, it should be treated as a hate crime and the perpetrators pursued vigorously.

When caught, they must be dealt with severely – punished and educated about the error of their ways.

One obvious step would be to have the person or group responsible spend time at the mosque, mixing with the targets of their hatred and learning why their actions were so grossly offensive.

A spokesman for the mosque reacted with shock, having previously felt the congregation was insulated from such crimes in tolerant, multi-cultural Fife.

The Dunfermline attack comes shortly after an abhorrent campaign to “punish a Muslim” was mooted on social media, placing the authorities on a state of high alert.

Thankfully it did not foster the widespread disorder intended but a lingering nastiness remains and has clearly pervaded throughout society.

Predictably, the incident has been met with a wave of revulsion from the vast majority of those in the community and an outpouring of support for the mosque. One commentator stated “love always wins”.

It must be hoped love, and justice, do prevail.